GYWO Bingo Fic (Reply)

Author: darkravenwroteTitle: The Suit NerdFandom: MerlinPairings: Merlin/Arthur PendragonWord Count: 655Rating: TWarnings: NonePrompt: For GYWO bingo. Click for full image.Author’s Notes: Time to start off card 2.Summary: Merlin has seen a lot of closet nerds in his time. He's actually seen this type before as well. The Suit Geek.Merlin has seen a lot of closet nerds in his time. He's seen the macho guys sneaking in with their sport-orientated tracksuits and their need-a-shower, just-came-from-practise hair. He thinks of them as Closet Nerds, just so he can make mental jokes about how they’re overcompensating for everything.

He's seen the up-themselves women with tightly bunned blonde hair and shoes too high for them to walk in, who all side eye him like he's going to jump them any second. Those are the Bitch Geeks, mostly because they are stereotypically mean to him in the same way that those career driven bosses on television are cruel to their protagonist assistants.

He's actually seen this type before as well. The Suit Geek. They aren’t quite the same as their female counterparts. Mostly they just want to run in, pay, and run out of his shop as quickly as humanly possible like Merlin’s going to blackmail them with his security tape for being there.This one’s got an athletic build, but his pinstriped three-piece says sport is a strictly weekend activity for him. He exudes a charisma without even speaking that says he works well playing to a crowd, and Merlin would bet today's sales that he gives a speech at leave once a day. He doesn't look nervous exactly, just sort of out of place.

He ambles over the DC comic section like he's been walking into The Hideaway all his life, though Merlin's never seen him before. It's the way his eyes skate around, though, that give him away. He's never been to a place like this before, and he needs to analyse his surroundings to make sure he doesn't make a fool of himself. He's cataloguing everything in Merlin's store and it isn't long before his eye gloss over Merlin himself -- lounging behind the counter and pretending Mr Blue Eyes doesn't turn him the hell on. He skips over Merlin, carrying on towards the manga section at the back, and then does some form of infinitesimal double-take and stares back at Merlin.

Merlin isn't sure how he could tell there was a double-take there. His customer doesn't move a muscle in his face and not even his shoulders jump. His mouth remains firmly closed and his eyebrows stay straight above his eyes. Only his eyelashes flicker delicately as his eyes dart around.They hold eye contact for a few seconds, and Merlin -- ever the perfect salesman -- takes this as his cue to step out from behind his cosy little counter.

"Can I help you?" he asks, going for his cheeky grin.

The guy's lips twitch.

"I was looking for something I used to like as a child." He slides a hand through his hair once. To the casual observer it would just look like he was styling it away from his face, but Merlin thinks immediately that it's his nervous habit. "For, well, my nephew, you see. I was hoping to share it with him."Merlin was right. Closet geek. He doesn't understand these sorts of customers. He owns a comic book shop and for some reason they all seem to think he'll judge them for being adults who buy his wares.

"Right," Merlin says, managing not to roll his eyes. "Can you give me a little more than that?"

Merlin learns four important things about the Suit Geek in the next few hours. First, that he likes very much to be right. All the time. Even when he's wrong he'll argue his case like his life depends on it -- secretly Merlin doesn't mind no matter how much he debates, Merlin just likes how impassioned he his by everything.

Second, that his name is Arthur and it suits him down to the pocket square he compulsively folds every time he sees it has gone awry.